TRAVEL 7 ) Museum of Innocence , Masumiyet Müzesi
In the Cukurjum quarter , there is a museum , which is well known to Russian reader from the novel by Orhan Pamuk , the Nobel laureate and , perhaps , the most famous contemporary writer in Turkey . The Museum of Innocence is not only a novel , but also a real-life museum . Its collection depicts a complex and endlessly confusing love story of Kemal and Fusun . There are 88 stands in accordance with the number of chapters in the novel . You can see Fusun ' s cigarette butts , her fallen earring in the shape of the letter F and the bed on which Kemal slept and was tormented by many years of love agony .
It is worth saying that looking behind any door of the Chukurjum quarter , you can find another museum because the district is famous for its colorful antique shops .
5 ) Instanbul Modern , Sanat Müzesi
There is a museum in the building of a former port warehouse on the shore of the Bosphorus . Its collection illustrates the history of Turkish art from the first impressionists to the present day , from Khoja Ali Riz to Ahmet Dou Ipek . Sometimes international biennials of contemporary art take place in the museum and its branches . It is worth following the life of the museum . What could be more romantic than suddenly flying to Istanbul for an exhibition ? Next to the museum there is a stunning restaurant with the view on the Bosphorus and the Topkapi Palace . If you are studying contemporary Turkish art , we advise you to climb higher to the Galata Tower and visit the Anna Laudel Gallery . There are always wonderful temporary exhibitions here .
Speaking of antiquity , nothing paints a portrait of a city better than its flea markets . The largest flea market in Istanbul is Ferikoy Antika Pazari ( Osmanbey metro ). Here you can find Ottoman treasures of a truly museum level : carpets , porcelain , jewellery , paintings , prints and books . You can feel the role of Istanbul as the largest trade place between East and West . What will you buy , an elegant cup of the Yildiz Porcelain manufactory , an Anatolian carpet , a vintage handbag or a cannonball , depends only on your interests !
6 ) Pera Museum
This is not a calligraphy museum ( although there is one in Istanbul too )! The Pera Museum ( Pera is the name of an area in the European part of the city that was once the Genoese colony of Pera ) is a unique private collection of the XIX century European Orientalism . There are the portraits of sultans by European painters , romanticised views of Istanbul streets and exotic waterways as well as an enviable collection of paintings by a famous Turkish painter , historian , founder and director of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum and the Academy of Arts in Istanbul , Osman Hamdi Bey . You are probably familiar with the The Tortoise Trainer and will be able to see it here .
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